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We all know how convenient supermarket
food shopping is. You can park for a start. You can
get all the shopping done quickly. There’s a large
variety of stuff in a small space. And, best of all,
it’s cheap. Own-brand discounts! Two-for-one sales!
Close to sell-by-date bargains! Now Tesco is planning
to supersize itself in Lewes. It wants to increase its
size by 1,614 square metres. This will mean cheap clothes
and shoes too. Cheap stationery for school kids. Cheap
electrical goods. All with easy-access parking. And
apparently all this isn’t just good for us, and
good for Tesco. According to the supermarket’s
propaganda, it’ll be good for local traders too.
“We have the opportunity through this extension,”
say the company, “to work together with the town
centre traders to limit the existing massive leakage
of expenditure out of the local area.”
This cynical press release made us very angry. We do
not believe that Tesco management gives two hoots about
Lewes’ local traders. In fact nobody knows better
than Tesco management what happens when their supermarkets
supersize themselves, because they’ve seen it
all over the country. The soul goes out of the town
centre as private traders go bust. All the towns-people
end up funnelling into Tesco, buying cheaper goods in
a town which no longer has any personality. The increase
in the size of Tesco will create 50 new jobs. But how
many local livelihoods will it destroy? Not many of
us can spare the money or time to go anywhere but the
supermarket to do the bulk of our shopping. But we must
do whatever we can to protect our town from this insidious
threat. Enjoy the week.
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Flocks by night: A Sussex
scene by Trevor Kemp
(courtesy of the Thebes Gallery) Cover: Christian Thompson
| To receive a free
edition of Viva Lewes in your inbox every week, please
click here. |
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Issue 13 |
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Acoustic
Guitar: |
David
Golden (16) |
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Blues:
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Big Joe Louis (15) |
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Bricks
& Mortar: |
The Town Hall (28) |
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Cinema: |
Kandahar (5); The
White Countess (6) |
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Classical
Music: |
A Cappella Chorus
(24) |
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Composting: |
The Lewes Organic
Allotment project (17) |
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Cycling: |
South Coast Duathlon
(18) |
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Folk:
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Judy Cook (4) |
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Food
& Drink: |
Grange Gardens
Café (8); The Royal Oak (30) |
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Football:
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Lewes Vs Welling
(12) |
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Issues:
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Tesco expansion;
(2) Phoenix Development (26); Traffic Wardens
(29) |
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Kids:
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The Bluebell Railway
(11); YMCA Easter events (19); Jay Miller’s
Circus (20); Archaeology Afternoon (22) |
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Knitting: |
Stitch & Bitch
(23) |
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My
Lewes: |
Vic Elsey (27) |
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Musical: |
Crazy for You (7);
Guys & Dolls (21) |
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Photography: |
Jason Kennedy
(31); Into the Negative (9) |
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Running: |
South Coast - Half
marathon (14); South Coast Duathlon (18) |
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Shopping:
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Lewes Farmers Market
(10) |
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Talk: |
The Vale Wives
(13); Another Look at the Ice-Age (25) |
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On the road to Kandahar:
one of many starkly surreal scenes (page 5) |
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3 |
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Thursday
30th March |
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Judy Cook is in the business of traditional folk songs.
She researches them, she finds them, she sings them, she
shares them. She is from Maryland, Virginia, and most
of her songs are American ballads, which she sings unaccompanied.
They are tales of times past. One sister murders another
by pushing her in the river, and a miller fishes out the
body with a pole. A jealous father shoots his daughter’s
young lover. A soldier dies in his mother’s arms
during the American Civil War. She sings of ghosts and
lumbermen, soldier boys and fisherwomen.
Judy has been singing professionally since the early nineties,
and for all that time she has been touring both the UK
and the USA. She has released two albums of her work If
You Sing Songs and Far from the Lowlands. She arrives
in Lewes highly recommended by her contemporaries. “Judy
Cook is one of the finest exponents of ballad singing
that the current American folk music revival has produced.
I'd go and listen to her anytime and anywhere,”
says Lou Killen. “Right up front with no affectation
she just opens up and tells the story,” comments
Sara Gray. Peggy Seeger, ‘the First Lady of Folk’,
is the most succinct. “Judy's the Real Thing,”
she raves. “With Capital Letters.” |
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Lonesome pine… Judy Cook
in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia |
Where?
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The Royal Oak, Station St,
Lewes |
| When? |
8pm |
| How Much? |
£4.50 |
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Folk
at the Oak
(w) Website
(t) 01273 478124 |
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4 |
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Thursday
30th March |
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Cinema -
Kandahar
When Britain and the USA invaded Afghanistan in 2001 a
lot of people I knew were against the war, seeing it as
a knee-jerk reaction to the bombing of 9/11. Which led
to a lot of interesting and divergent feelings about the
Taliban. It was quite easy when you were anti-invasion,
to blur your rational feelings about the forces who were
countering that invasion. “The Taliban, they’re
the good guys, aren’t they?” said one friend,
with just a hint of irony in his voice. The film Kandahar,
which was made in 2000 and released in the winter of 2001,
was a very timely release. Made by an Iranian director,
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and starring a Afghani journalist who
had been living for years in Canada, Nelofer Pazira, the
film reminds you of what a brutal, ruthless, misogynistic
regime there was in Afghanistan when the religious fundamentalists
ran the country.
The story, shot on the Iranian-Afghan border and largely
starring a non-professional cast, is an adaptation of
events in which Pazira was a real-life protagonist. She
had returned to the country of her birth to try and stop
a girlfriend from committing suicide. Later on, after
failing in her mission, she met Makhmalbaf, who persuaded
her to return to shoot a semi-fictional movie version
of her ordeal. While the resulting footage can be amateurishly
rough round the edges, it is never anything but extremely
powerful. |
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Nelofer Pazira stars in Kandahar: Showing at Lewes Cinema this week |
Where?
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All Saints, Friar’s
Walk, Lewes |
| When? |
8pm |
| How Much? |
£4.50 |
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Lewes
Cinema
(t) 01903 523833
(w) Website |
Official
Trailer
(w) link |
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5 |
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Thursday
30th March |
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Cinema -
The White Countess
In May last year, during the making of The White Countess,
Ismail Merchant died in London after an operation on his
stomach. And so the film became the last in a long line
of co-productions from Merchant and his (life and business)
partner James Ivory. The couple met at a screening of
Ivory’s film The Sword and the Flute in 1960. Within
a year they had set up a company together, within three
they had put out their first movie The Householder, which
like so many, was set in Merchant’s homeland, India.
It wasn’t until 1979, when they adapted the Henry
James novel The Bostonians, that they found their most
successful stock-in-trade: period movie adaptations of
19th century novels. Subsequently, films like A Room with
a View, Maurice and Howard’s End established them
as A-list Hollywood icons. Their adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s
novel The Remains of the Day was nominated eight times
in the 1994 Oscars.
The White Countess is based on a screenplay by Ishiguro.
It stars Ralph Fiennes as a blind diplomat who falls in
love with Natasha Richardson’s fallen-on-hard-times
Russian countess. It is set in 1930’s Shanghai,
prior to the Japanese invasion of China. As usual it is
sumptuously shot, and cleverly acted. It is unlikely,
however, to be remembered in years to come as anything
but the last Merchant-Ivory co-production. Critics seem
to be split in their appraisal. Positive reviews mention
the film’s slow, meditative pace. Village Voice
calls it ‘irredeemably dull’. |
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Ralph Fiennes forms
a dangerous liason with the White Countess |
Where?
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The Picture House, Uckfield |
| When? |
2:30pm; 5:45pm; 8:20pm |
| How Much? |
Adult £5.80; Child £4; Senior £4.80 |
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Official
Website
(w) Website |
Uckfield
Picture House
(t) 01825 764909
(w) Website |
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6 |
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Thursday
30th March |
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Musical -
Crazy for You
Thirties musicals - great songs, shame about the libretto.
Times move on, humour gets dated, what was snappy 75 years
ago, isn’t necessarily snappy now. This was bugging
a Broadway production company when they were thinking
of putting on the 1930 Gershwin classic Girl Crazy (later
made into a 1943 movie). It had four great songs –including
I Got Rhythm –, but not much else going for it.
Then the brainwave. Why not keep the songs, and update
the story. Hey! Why not keep the BEST songs, add in some
other great songs from other great Gershwin musicals,
and completely rewrite the story? Now you’re talking.
The result was Crazy For You, a Gershwin classic from
the grave, and a big Broadway hit in 1992.
Crazy For You is the latest offering from the amateur
operatic group from Chiddingly and East Hoathly, UBENDS.
The group, formed by the wife of the previous rector of
the two parishes, started life doing religious musicals
but have progressed to more secular and riotous material.
You can tell from their publicity material it’s
going to be good. They look like they’re having
a scream posing for their photos. It even sounds like
they had a scream writing their press release: ‘Prepare
to be dazzled by forty tap dancers on two stages in two
churches across two weekends.’ Sounds like they
got rhythm. |
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Bob-bob bobbin’
along: Ubends, too sexy for their wigs |
Where?
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Chiddingly Church, Chiddingly |
| When? |
7.30pm (also Sunday 1st 2.30pm and 7.30pm) |
| How Much? |
£6 |
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Booking
by Phone
(t) 01825 872401 and 01803 928930 |
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7 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Food - Grange
Gardens Café
I call it a café, but it’s more of a takeaway
really. In fact, even that is pushing it, because it’s
no more than a hole in the wall, with no tables or seating
of its own. Walk through the gardens in the winter, and
you wouldn’t even know it had ever been there. But
luckily for us it is, and it re-opens again today. And
when the staff do re-open the hatch, after a well-deserved
winter break, they’ll see that much has gone on
in the adjoining Grange Gardens. For a start, they will
(as reported back in issue five) be staring at a new patch
of neatly mown grass and not the tulip tree that had stood
on the spot for the best part of 300 years. They will
also discover that they have some new neighbours to get
along with, as what was Star Gallery 2, has become a permanent
showroom for the creative efforts of the craftspeople
from the Sussex Guild.
But why are we so keen on a humble takeaway hatch I hear
you cry? Well I’ll tell you in two simple words:
china cups. They treat you like adults you see. Just approach
the hatch, order your drink and choose a bit of bench/wall/grass
to settle down upon. Sip slowly while taking in the beautiful
surroundings. For an even better experience have a cake
- or a sandwich. Two last things: firstly, if you can,
avoid the after school rush, and secondly, take your china
cup back. |
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Spring awakening: tea
will be served from April 1st |
Where?
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Grange Gardens, Southover
Road, Lewes |
| When? |
10am-5pm daily |
| How Much? |
Great Value |
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8 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Photographic
Exhibition - In to the Negative
If you’ve been planning to get
along to this excellent exhibition but still haven’t
quite managed to find the time, we suggest you get your
skates on, because its eleven-week showing at the Barbican
Museum comes to an end tomorrow. The images on show
are in fact only a mere fraction of the museums 100,000
images. The vast majority of these were taken back in
the early photographic boom-time of the mid-nineteenth
to early twentieth century. The photographers were a
group of enthusiastic locals, including a certain Mr
Reeves, whose descendants still run a successful photographic
studio on the town’s High Street, within yards
of the exhibition entrance. In the exhibition you are
shown a varied selection of photographs from the time,
carefully selected to allow a fascinating peek into
the lives of the previous inhabitants of our town. The
images on show cover all aspects of what was then daily
Lewes life in Victorian England, as well as capturing
some of the more formal events of the era.
Photographic techniques have of course moved on in leaps
and bounds since Victorian times. These technological
strides have allowed the museum's curators to look more
deeply into the images by making high quality enlargements
of the originals. This technique immediately brings
unseen details to the fore. The blown up images, which
are shown alongside the original work, are both amusing
and intriguing, as long forgotten expressions, costumes,
buildings and the finest day to day details spring back
in to life.
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Lewes in its pre-Tesco
heyday |
Where?
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The Barbican Museum, Lewes |
| When? |
Sat 10am-5.30pm; Sun 11.30am–5pm |
| How Much? |
. |
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9 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Farmers'
Market
In 1964 there were 12 butchers' shops in Lewes. Since
the two supermarkets arrived, only two survive. The cattle
market, once a central part of Lewes life, has closed
down. There has been a dramatic decline in bakers and
greengrocers, with the Swanborough Nurseries in Fisher
Street being the latest casualty. These closures have
knock-on effects on the local economy. Local shops tend
to use local producers. When they close down, these producers
lose their main market. Now Tesco want to supersize themselves,
we are likely to see the same thing happen with other
shops. Clothes shops, stationery shops, toy shops and
record shops are under threat.
It’s the first Saturday of the week, which means
the Farmers’ Market is going to fill the precinct
again with its stalls selling local produce. There has
never been a more important time to support this cause.
Using the market keeps money in the local economy, as
does using local shops. We believe that buying produce
from Tesco takes the money out of the local economy and
into the coffers of a business which is expanding far
too fast, and actually damaging local economies all over
the country (and increasingly, all over other countries,
too). We understand that it is difficult in the modern
age not to use supermarkets. But we are thinking long
and hard about our shopping habits, and we suggest, if
you are not already doing so, that you do the same. |
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Spuds we like: organic,
local and they taste of potato |
Where?
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Cliffe Precinct, Lewes |
| When? |
9am-1pm |
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10 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Family
Day Out - The Bluebell Railway
Back in the good old days, both trains
and cars tended to have large amounts of steam coming
out of them – to the delight of train drivers
and despair of the car owners. Then things ‘improved’.
Cars became less temperamental, but turned in to soul-less
mass-produced boxes; whilst the age of steam gave way
to the more reliable, but less emotive, electric and
diesel rolling stock. It was predicted that by the 21st
century we’d be driving electric cars and taking
solar powered monorails to work. Well the good news
is that you can spend today double-dosing on nostalgia,
as the Ecurie Bluebell Car Club fills the Bluebell Railways'
Sheffield Park car park with a collection of their classic
cars. Up to seventy cars - probably including The Saints
Volvo P1800, an Austin Healey 3000 and an MG or two
(minus those who break down en route of course) should
be on show. Touch chrome and marvel at sections of unnecessary,
but still beautiful bodywork.
But, For most visitors however the real stars of the
show are waiting inside the station. From today, and
throughout the Easter holidays, the Bluebell Railway
is running its daily ‘Vintage Branch Line’
service. Expect steam, expect whistles, and then expect
to spend a long time looking around the impressively
appointed locomotion sheds. And of course, you have
to take a ride on a train. It’s not cheap, but
it is memorable. Viva’s recommendation? Take the
last train to Kingscote – it’s waiting at
the station… |
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It's not Ivor, but it
is an engine. |
Where?
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Sheffield Park, 11 miles
from Lewes |
| When? |
VBT 12,2&4pm |
| How Much? |
Adult £9.50; Child (3-16)£4.70;
Family (2+3) £27 |
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11 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Football
- Lewes v Welling United
After a stunning weekend victory to knock Weymouth off
the top of the Conference South table, Welling United
will be looking to hand out more of the same punishment
to Lewes this afternoon. With both sides desperate to
consolidate their play-off spots, all the ingredients
are in place for a cracking match at the Dripping Pan.
Welling, ‘The Wings’, is a curious club, which
has risen in the past 45 years right from the bottom of
the league pyramid. They started life as late as 1961,
as a park under 15 team, and made a meteoric rise up the
leagues, eventually becoming part of the inaugural (Vauxhall)
Conference in 1986. They stayed in the top flight of non-league
football until 2000. The current team, managed by former
Norwich and Gillingham defender Adrian Pennock, is tough
to break down, and dangerous on the counter. Their strike
force, composed of Danny Kedwell and Che Stadhart, is
quite a handful.
Lewes however, will be quietly confident of making it
five wins in a row, after returning to third in the table,
courtesy of last Saturday’s impressive 2-0 win away
at Cambridge City. A Steve Robinson first half goal and
Djoumin Sangare’s late effort, ensured both the
three points and consecutive victory number four; adding
to the wins over Sutton, Basingstoke and Bishop’s
Stortford. We’re confident Lewes will edge to victory
in a hard-fought match. Come on you Rooks! Viva Prediction:
1-0. |
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Dripping yarns: Lewes
are on track for a play-off place |
Where?
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The Dripping Pan, Mountfield
Road, Lewes |
| When? |
3pm |
| How Much? |
£9 adults; £6 14-16; £2
kids |
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12 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Historical
Talk - Simon de Montfort and his Vale Wives
Most Lewesians are aware that Simon de
Montfort’s military career peaked with the capture
of King Henry III on May 14th, 1264 during the Battle
of Lewes; and ended with his death on August 4th 1265
at the spectacularly less successful Battle of Evesham.
Today’s talk, given by locally born academic, Professor
Eva Swivel, traces her fascinating and potentially explosive
theory that De Montfort, during the period of his ultimately
unsuccessful marriage to Henry’s sister Eleanor,
also sired several illegimate children in the Lewes area.
Some of the descendants of this forgotten bloodline are
still in the area, and Prof. Swivel intends to reveal
the names of those families still living, in some cases
very prominently, in the villages of the Lewes area.
In what promises to be a highly controversial end to her
talk, the professor has informed us that she intends to
produce a family tree that contends that the rightful
heir to the throne of England is living amongst us in
the town. Most contentiously, she intends to introduce
that person to the audience, who will then be encouraged
to ceremonially ‘storm’ Lewes Castle, as the
first act of an intriguing plan to replace our current
monarch with the ‘rightful heir’ in time for
the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. Bizarre. |
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Knight rider: Simon de
Montfort might be in your genes… |
Where?
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The Battle of Lewes Viewing
Site, Lewes Castle |
| When? |
11am (‘storming’ at NOON) |
| How Much? |
Off with her head? |
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13 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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South Coast
- Half Marathon
I’ve carbo-loaded, hydrated properly,
placed Vaseline on the ‘friction zones’ and
chosen decent running shoes. But still my leg muscles,
starved of oxygen, feel fit to burst and are desperately
trying to make me stop. I’m shuffling along like
‘Verbal’ in The Usual Suspects strapped to
a chain gang. Every breath feels like it’s my last.
I can see the half marathon finishing line – I’ve
been able to see it for ages, but I’m starting to
think that someone is moving it backwards. Then suddenly
I’m there, through the line, in the funnel, medal
around my neck. I’m offered water, and tip it gratefully
over my head as my heart beat slowly comes down from 220.
My lungs choose not to burst, and I move, more freely
now, to the zone where my bag awaits. Sure I’m in
pain, and will be for days, but I finished, succeeding
with what I’d set out to do. Sure there were people
ahead of me - there were thousands ahead of me, but to
me, it was like I’d won. Running hurts, but it’s
a magnificently satisfying pain. Next time the marathon…
Today, thousands of Sussex folk will watch thousands of
others take part in the South Coast half marathon, 10k
and 5k around a circular course through the streets of
Seaford. Get along to watch, put your loose change in
the charity boxes, and if you’re not fit enough
to get a late entry in, plan to run next time. |
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Keep on Running... |
Where?
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Martello Tower area, Seaford |
| When? |
10k & 5k 9am; - Half Marathon 10am |
| How Much? |
£2 parking fee (goes to charity) |
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14 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Blues - Big
Joe Louis
Big Joe Louis is a big name in British Blues, a fine singer
and guitarist who has got a great band around him and
has toured all over the world, playing down-home 50’s
Chicago-style blues with a little touch of early Memphis
rock ‘n’ roll. Big Joe is a big character
with a fine voice and an interesting taste in shirts who
was born in the Caribbean; he often pines for his home
country in mostly self-penned songs like Down Jamaica
Way.
A few press cuttings suggest that the Pelham Arms have
bagged a real coup in getting Big Joe down to Lewes. “I’ve
lost my head over the blues talent of Big Joe Louis &
His Blues Kings… the very best you will hear on
this planet,” raved US mag Blue Suede News when
Joe and his band toured the States a couple of years ago.
Back home it’s much the same. “Their performance
was equal - if not superior - to anything their US counterparts
have produced. The ensemble textures were authentically
rich, the rhythm section uplifting and the solos - vocal
and instrumental – impassioned,” gushed the
Manchester Evening News. "Judging by the way they
sound here, any forthcoming dates should be copiously
attended. Go in your thousands, every one of you!"
said Folk Roots, enigmatically. Lewes is rising fast as
a premiere Blues destination. How long till we host an
annual Blues festival? |
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Slide show: Big Joe (foreground)
with Little George Sueref |
Where?
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Pelham Arms, High Street,
Lewes |
| When? |
8.30pm |
| How Much? |
Free |
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Big
Joe Louis
(w) Website |
The
Pelham Arms
(t) 01273 476149 |
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15 |
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Saturday
1st April |
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Rock Covers
- David Golden
I ring the Snowdrop and ask who’s
playing tonight. Mick, the landlord, tells me it’s
a guy called Dave Golden, but he can’t find his
number so I google the name and enter davegolden.com.
This guy looks good. He’s an American selling
out his current tour, mainly in the blue- collar cities
of the north-east United States. He plays acoustic guitar,
unaccompanied and very well. He’s big in New York
and recently wrote an award-winning film score. This
guy jams with Lauryn Hill and “Sounds like Dylan”
according to one critic, so the Snowdrop has pulled
off a bit of a coup here…
An hour later, I re-tap Dave Golden and up he pops again.
He’s still thirty-something and he’s still
holding an acoustic guitar – but suddenly he hasn’t
written a film score, and in his .co.uk version, he’s
British and hails from Brighton. He also now calls himself
David. It’s getting easier to spot who’s
who - because our David Golden is not influenced by
Dylan, he’s influenced by Elvis Costello –
who is, oh hang on, heavily influenced by Dylan. Expect
a covers set including tracks from Squeeze, Oasis, Joe
Jackson, the Beatles and the Jam. Don’t expect
the American Golden, he’s practicing for his gig
with Rufus Wainwright III in New Orleans next week.
So forget the American and get behind our man, altogether
now: “One David Golden; there’s only one
David Golden”… |
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Golden in Silence |
Where?
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The Snowdrop, South St, Lewes |
| When? |
9pm |
| How Much? |
Free |
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16 |
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Sunday 2nd
April |
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Compost Workshop
It has been estimated that a third of the rubbish that
goes into landfill is biodegradable and therefore usable
as compost. This includes uneaten food of all sorts, peelings,
eggshells, paper and cardboard. And the great thing about
compost is that it isn’t rubbish. Put it on your
flower bed and your flowers will grow better. If you haven’t
got a garden, put it in your houseplant pots or hanging
baskets. Hell, you can even give it away as a present,
as long as you wrap it nicely and tell its' recipient
not to open it in the living room. This afternoon the
people at Common Cause, the organisation that arranges
the Farmers’ Market, is offering a free workshop
on composting, demonstrating how best to do it. Different
sorts of households will suit different sorts of compost
bins: this demonstration will help you choose the right
one for you. The scheme is part of the County Council’s
Compost Doctor scheme.
The workshop is taking place at 12noon and 2pm at the
Highdown Allotments in Neville. Eight of the allotments
are run as a shared plot by the group Common Cause, and
funded by the District Council. Local people can, for
a fee of £10 per family per year, have a stake in
the allotment. |
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Brown gold: compost might
not smell good but it’s so
environmentally sound |
Where?
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Highdown Allotments, Nevill
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| When? |
12pm and 2pm |
| How Much? |
Free |
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Compost
Workshop
(t) 01273 476029
(t) 07914 934428 |
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17 |
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Sunday 2nd
April |
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South Coast
Duathlon
On Saturday, Seaford seafront was packed with thousands
of runners, many preparing for next month’s London
Marathon. Yesterday, they just ran, today their bikes
are coming too. Today’s event is organised by Fun
2 Tri, who actively promote multi-sport events around
the country. Part of the UK Triathlon Race Series, today’s
duathlon is a run-bike-run event, (effectively a water-free
triathlon). It’s definitely not to be confused with
the biathlon, which consists of cross country skiing and
rifle shooting, two events rarely found - we hope - on
Seaford seafront.
If you’re fit enough to take part, there may still
be time to apply via their website shown below. There
are four events on the day including the fun event over
2.5k/10k/2.5k, and a relay, which can be completed by
a team of three. If, like the team at Viva, you’re
training for next year’s event, we suggest that
you get down nice and early to the Martello Tower to cheer
the competitors on instead. Try to keep an eye out for
the second transition – where after between ten
and thirty kilometres on the bike, the competitors have
to jump off and instantly try to run in a straight line.
Think pub closing time - the legs are willing but the
brain can’t quite work it out. |
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Stop running, start riding. |
Where?
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Seaford Seafront |
| When? |
9am |
| How Much? |
It’s for charity… |
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18 |
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Monday 3rd
April |
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Lewes
YMCA - Easter Activities
Last year, East Sussex schools switched
to a secular term timetable. As a result, the majority
of this year’s spring holiday falls into the two
week period before Easter. With the addition of a Bank
Holiday on Easter Monday, it creates an elongated and
potentially hard-to-cover nineteen-day break. One option
if you are quick – and I’d call fast as
spaces are limited - is the programme of events available
at the Lewes YMCA on Westgate St. They offer a wide
range of activities, and for the first time, this year
they are also hosting separate breakfast and lunch clubs,
welcome additions to the programme designed to help
those with both limited childcare options to get the
best part of a full day’s work in.
The Y’s programme of events is designed to be
suitable for children aged 4-11 years old, and to cover
a wide range of skills. Sessions take in everything
from the expected – things like cooking, modelling,
fitness, fun and games - through to less frequently
practiced arts, such as the intriguingly titled ‘Native
North Americans beads’ and ‘Totem Pole Desk
Tidies’. Personally, I like the sound of Tuesday.
The kids get to spend the morning exploring the finer
points of black and white art, before turning their
attention to design in the afternoon, when they are
invited to turn a plain white t-shirt into a masterpiece
with the help of a palette of paints. |
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Getting stuck in: Easter
fun at the YMCA |
Where?
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Lewes YMCA, Westgate St,
Lewes |
| When? |
Daily from 8.30am |
| How Much? |
Activities £5 per session; Lunch
£2; Breakfast Club £3 |
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19 |
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Monday 3rd
April |
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Family
trip to The Circus
I last went to the circus in the mid
1980s, drunk, with some friends. It was an instantly
sobering experience. I came away with disturbing images
of caged tigers, performing monkeys and sinister-looking
clowns. I remember feeling extremely sorry for the ‘star
of the show’ a stressed young elephant cajoled
in to performing mind-numbingly repetitive tricks. I
wanted to set him free; but figured life in a two-bed
house with a small garden and two cats probably wouldn’t
be much better – and anyway they didn’t
have an elephant flap in the pet shop.
Clearly, I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with
the performing animal routines, because a new breed
of circus came to town. With the animals out of the
picture, its just the circus folk now, as the Jay Miller
Circus offers us an ‘all human production’.
Inside the Big Top, events will be masterminded by Miss
Lindsay Stockley, the UK’s only Lady Ringmaster,
and amongst those waiting to cry "let me entertain
you," will be the apparently enchanting Miss Charlotte
and her range of ‘vertical skills’. Expect
daring acts on the solo trapeze, expect ‘whirlwinds
on wheels’ and expect, ‘more spectacular
artistes, surprises and comedy than any other production
to date’. Acts from Moldova, Romania and Hungary
will perform alongside the UK’s own circus talent.
Hey, the Circus sounds fun nowadays - if we could just
do something about those clowns. |
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Overcome your clown phobia
at the Jay Miller Circus |
Where?
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Martello Fields, Seaford |
| When? |
6pm |
| How Much? |
Today - £5.99 all seats |
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The
Circus
(t) 07976 655180
(w) Website |
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20 |
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Tuesday
4th April |
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Musical Theatre
- Guys and Dolls
If you’re not aware of the Lewes
Operatic Society, maybe it’s time you were, as they
have been bringing the delights of musical theatre to
the town for nearly a century now. Their first production
was staged way back in 1911, and this is the first of
two shows scheduled for 2006. Autumn’s production
will be a rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan’s much-loved
comic operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, but before they can start
rehearsals for that, there is the not so small matter
of delivering six high quality performances of Guys and
Dolls.
If you’re not familiar with the plot of Guys and
Dolls, it basically tells the story of a group of small-time
gamblers and the ladies in their lives. The catalyst for
the action – and of course, a whole lot of singing
- is a bet placed by Nathan Detroit with his gambling
pal Sky Masterson. Nathan needs a quick $1000 dollars
to set up a floating craps game, so he bets he can make
the next lady they see fall madly in love with him. When
that turns out to be the prim and proper Sarah Brown -
who runs the local mission for sinners - it looks a no-brainer
bet for Sky to accept. It’s a fun plot, but the
real star of the show is, of course, Frank Loesser’s
fantastic score, featuring classic songs including ‘Luck
be a Lady’, ‘Sit down You’re Rocking
the Boat’ and the eponymous ‘Guys and Dolls’.
Enjoy. |
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Guys and Dolls: the famous
Shirt-and-tie-clash Mob and their molls |
Where?
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Lewes Town Hall |
| When? |
7.30pm (also Tues – Sat) |
| How Much? |
Adults £7 - £9; Kids/OAP
£5.50 - £8 |
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Lewes
Operatic Society
(t) 01273 407674
(w) Click
here |
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Tuesday
4th April |
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Archaeology
Afternoon
When you next go for a picnic in Grange Gardens or set
up your football game in the Pells, think carefully
about what is buried deep under the earth. This is the
message in an Archaeology Afternoon from 2pm-4pm at
Lewes Castle on 4th April. With its impressive history
dating back to the Saxons and Celts, Lewes sure has
plenty of treasures hidden under its turf. At this event,
organized by Sussex Past, children over the age of eight
are invited to meet a real archaeologist, and ask them
intelligent questions (what do archeologists eat?).
There is a hands-on programme showing how objects are
excavated from the earth, identified and dated, and
discussion as to what these things can reveal about
the lifestyle of our ancestors. Information about recent
digs in the Lewes area, including excavations under
the new library, will make it all relevant.
As part of the session’s activities your kids
will be invited to handle a selection of ancient objects
from the museums collection, which includes Anglo-Saxon
jewellery, a Roman helmet, bones and pottery. And you
never know this introduction to archaeology might just
be a turning point in your kid’s lives. Just think,
they could abandon their career aspirations on the spot,
forget about playing for Chelsea FC or inventing computer
games there and then, and go for archeology instead.
Dig it good. |
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Dig This: Roman tiles
could be under your house.. |
Where?
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Lewes Castle, High St, Lewes |
| When? |
2-4pm |
| How Much? |
Included in normal admission |
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22 |
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Tuesday
4th April |
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Knitting
- Stitch ‘n’ Bitch
A few years ago a bunch of middle-class
American women, all yoga'd out, decided that knitting
was a cool way of unwinding. So they started up clubs.
The phenomenon soon got a name: Stitch'n'Bitch. It also
got a number of celebrity punters, including Madonna,
Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman &
Cameron Diaz. Eventually, as these things always do after
a couple of years, it reached our shores. Last year, Stitch
‘n’ Bitch arrived in Lewes. There is now a
loose-knit group operating every first Tuesday of the
month upstairs at the Lewes Arms. With all those celebrities
involved (although they are not always in Lewes) it’s
now official: needlework is IN.
Group member, Chloe Alexander tells us that what
they need in the group are men. David Arquette is a member
of a Stitch ‘n’ Bitch group we are told. And,
afterall fishermen used to knit their own nets. So that
proves that it doesn’t pose any threat to your masculinity
to join in. Whatever your gender, you do not need any
skills to come along. These can be learnt in situ. Recent
artefacts made during the sessions include a crocheted
wastepaper bin made out of old carrier bags cut into strips.
Knitting is certainly not the only activity-taking place
in these friendly sessions: crocheting, embroidery, empathy,
gossiping and drinking are all part of the fun too.
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Get your lads out for
the Knits. |
Where?
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Upstairs at the Lewes Arms |
| When? |
8pm |
| How Much? |
Free |
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The
Lewes Arms
(t) 01273 476757 |
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Wednesday
5th April |
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A Cappella
- Cathedral Holy Week Music
The heyday of unaccompanied, or to give
it its correct title, a cappella singing came in the late
sixteenth, early seventeenth century. Much of tonight’s
programme, performed by the Lewes a cappella choral class,
will be sourced from a period in time, when the highly-rated
composers of the day were strongly attracted to the concept
of creating voice-only works. Tonight will be the choir’s
10th anniversary performance of their selection of Cathedral
Holy Week music, and as well as Thomas Weelkes well known
Hosanna to the Son of David, we are also promised two
of Marc Antonio Ingegneri’s Tenebrae responses.
Other highlights on the night are likely to be the choir’s
rendition of Gervase’s Salvatore Mundi and the Palm
Sunday piece, Children of the Hebrews.
The well respected a cappella class has been led from
the start by tutor Gregory Atkin, a man with a great musical
past, including two years spent as a Gentleman of Choir
with the illustrious Westminster Cathedral choir. But
perhaps the most interesting fact about Mr Atkin is that,
as well as dedicating his time to this group, he also
finds time to work in a very different capacity as Sub
Deacon of the Greek Orthodox Church in Brighton. Finally,
if the thought of an a cappella feast hasn’t completely
tempted you, the fact that you get to listen to beautiful
music whilst admiring the inside of the Westgate Chapel
should. |
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Marc Antonio Ingegneri: A no band
man |
Where?
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Westgate Chapel, The Bottleneck,
High St, Lewes |
| When? |
7:30pm |
| How Much? |
Free (plus collection for the Chapel) |
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24 |
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Wednesday
5th April |
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Talk - Ice
Age theory
There is a conventional view about ice
ages, which most people support. It goes like this: we
are currently living in an ice age; we have been for 40
million years. Within ice ages there are temperate periods
and severe periods. These are called ‘interglacial’
and ‘glacial’. During interglacial periods
ice sheets diminish in size. In glacial periods they spread.
We are currently in an interglacial period. We have been
for about 10,000 years. Both ice ages, and the glacial/interglacial
periods within them, are caused by various factors, including
the atmospheric condition (notably the mixture of methane
and CO2); differences in the Earth’s orbit around
the sun, and the position of the continental plates relative
to the poles.
This afternoon, Matthew Hepburn, secretary of astronomy
group PONLAF, vehemently refutes this theory, which he
considers to be Anglo-centric. He points to evidence,
that has been well known for more than 100 years, and
outlines a radical new explanation for ice ages. Incidentally,
he promises to clear up a nagging problem in geomagnetism.
He will also speak at length about global warming, a connected
subject, if he is asked. It’s an important talk,
then, and we are assured it won’t be pitched too
far above the layman’s head. |
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Ice Age: a radical new
theory from Matthew Hepburn |
Where?
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Southover Grange, Southover
Road, Lewes |
| When? |
8pm |
| How Much? |
£2.50 |
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25 |
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Extras |
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Bricks and
Mortar - The Town Hall
After writing Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
started but never finished a second novel, which she never
gave a name to. It has since acquired the title ‘The
Watsons’. The novel starts with a ball in a provincial
town in Surrey, named only as ‘D’. The passage
is based on a visit to Lewes, which Austen made in 1804,
to attend the sumptuous monthly ball then held for the
local gentry at the Star Inn.
Inns have always played an important role in town life
in England, and not just for eating and drinking. From
its inception in 1500, the Star was variously a shelter
for pilgrims, a prison (the 17 martyrs were kept in the
undercroft there before being burnt), a site for public
debate (Cobbett and Disraeli orated there), and a place
to exchange corn. In 1881, when Lewes received its charter
of incorporation, it was the natural building to consider
turning into the Town Hall. The kitchens and stable yard
were demolished to make way for new Assembly Rooms. By
then it already had its busy red moulded-brick facade,
which was added in 1732 by Thomas Sergison. Sergison,
a Tory landowner, made the place his headquarters and
installed the magnificent broad Renaissance staircase,
which he had moved from his Slaugham Place mansion, and
which so impressed Ms Austen. The building very nearly
became a literary landmark. ‘The Watsons’
was eventually converted into Austen’s masterpiece
Pride and Prejudice. |
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Stony-faced: the original
model for Lewes’ famous beard-and-
sandals look |
Where?
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High Street, Lewes |
| When? |
As Town Hall since 1881 |
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28 |
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Extras |
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Lunch for
a fiver - The Royal Oak
Have you ever had lunch envy? Bet you have. It’s
when you order a different thing from the other people
at your table, then when the food arrives you want theirs.
Sometimes people have it as a condition. I used to have
a business partner who had food envy so badly that he
started getting an inferiority complex about his menu
technique. He always wanted my food when it arrived, not
his. To him, the meal always looked greener on the other
side of the table.
The Royal Oak has just changed chefs and we were wondering
if the new one came up to the exacting standards of his
predecessor. I ordered a bagel with pork and mange-touts
and salad (£5.25, bit over budget), Chloe ordered
the nachos (£4, well within). Then Nick sauntered
in and asked for Chorizo stew (£4). The nachos and
the bagel arrived at the same time, and I had no problems.
They looked OK, but mine looked great. Then Nick’s
arrived. A rich red sauce, with that golden shimmer you
get when you’re liberal with the olive oil. As I
bit into my bagel, crunching through the mange-touts,
sinking my teeth into the pork, I imagined the strong,
oily Spanish sausage-tomato-and-pepper taste. Damn! Damn,
damn, damn! I had lunch envy. After that I couldn’t
appreciate my own meal. My ex business partner, by the
way, found a solution to his chronic case. He’d
just order after me, and say ‘I’ll have the
same.’ Simple really. |
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Lunch envy: would you
swap this bagel for a chorizo stew? |
Where?
|
The Royal Oak, 3 Station
St, Lewes |
| When? |
Daily 12noon - 10pm |
| How Much? |
95 Mexican Pesos |
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The
Royal Oak
(t) 01273 474803 |
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30 |
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Extras |
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Photo
of the Week - Jason Kennedy
Strangely, our photo of the week was sent in by the
same person who wrote our opinion column this week,
Jason Kennedy, who lives in one of the lovely but out-of-place
cottages that are isolated at the south end of the Phoenix
Industrial Estate. Jason goes against the grain of most
people we have spoken to in that he is generally in
favour of the development being planned by Angel Property
in the industrial estate he lives in. Nevertheless,
he is aware that the mushrooming of eight-storey blocks
in the near vicinity is going to play havoc with the
views he enjoys from his bedroom window. Thus, perhaps
rather poignantly, Jason (who is, amongst other things,
a professional photographer) snapped us this rather
impressive sunset. “Who knows, in a few years
much of the view will be blocked off,” he muses.
Indeed. As ever, we welcome any of your comments, rants,
photos, contributions, alerts to an event we should
be covering, complaints, and offers of a pint down the
pub on a Wednesday evening, when we go to press. Info@vivalewes.com
is our address. We are hoping that our new opinion column
(between 220 and 240 words please, subject to editing,
we may ask to come and take your photo) will prove a
popular sounding board. We won’t always agree
with your opinions, but we will publish them if we think
they’re well put.
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Phoenix rising: soon
this sunset won't look the same |
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31 |
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That’s the end of issue number
13, not lucky or unlucky, but decidedly spring-has-sprung.
Slightly worried that this has become the slot in which
we talk about the weather, we would like to thank this
month’s batch of kind people without whom the
issue would not have been possible. Namely, and in no
particular order of importance, Elly from Ubends, Sue
from Common Cause, Emma from the Barbican, Big Joe Louis,
Dino Bishop, Matthew Hepburn, Gregory Atkin, Elvis Wave
from Valve Wise & Vic Elsey…
This week’s contributors are: Chloe Alexander,
Jason Kennedy, Christian Thompson, Jessica Wood, Nick
Williams, David Wilson, Alex Leith, Antonia Gabassi
and Dexter Lee.
Special thanks to our emergency subbing team of Jess
and Laura.
Next week’s highlights include:
Thursday 6th: Lord Byron’s
Revenge
stand-up comedy from the Barnstormers
Friday 7th Extraordinary
Russian movie Vozvrashcheniye
(The Return to me and you) at the All Saints
Sat 8th: Painter Jessica
Zoob at Flint
Extras: An examination
of Tescopoly, the dominance of Tesco in the marketplace |
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Jessica Zoob will be
exhibiting at Flint next week. |
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